First Day of School

Yesterday was Jax's first day of preschool!

I CANNOT believe he is old enough to start school. 

It all goes too fast.

We love his school SO much and are so blessed to have it so close by. I can walk him to school if I want!

He is now a "Cheerful Cheetah"!

I was so excited for him that I didn't think I would cry... but I should have known better. Watching him run around and play on the playground before class made me realize how fast he's growing. There was no way to hold back the tears. 

I blame the baby hormones :)

Side note: I have quite a few of you who have commented on posts and when I try to write you back,  I see that you are a "no-reply blogger"... meaning your email isn't hooked up to your blog. Check out THIS post about how to change that so that I can write you back!

Meet and Greet

We took a trip to Fresno this weekend so that our families and friends could meet Lexi. We had a very busy weekend, but it was a lot of fun getting to spend time with everyone we love!

On Friday we stopped at my grandparents house on our way to Fresno. 

That evening we  had dinner with Ryan's parents and grandparents. 

On Saturday we had a BBQ at my parents' house with all of my mom's side of the family. 

Jax practiced his swimming

 

And got a big brother present from my grandma

Saturday evening, my two besties and I got together so that they could meet Lexi and our boys could play. 

It's really hard to get a picture of three busy 3-year-olds!

On Sunday we went to church in the morning, 

had lunch with my parents then headed back home. 

It was a fun weekend and Lexi got lots of love.

Top left to right- Ryan's Grandma Nora, Grampy (Ryan's dad), Grammy (Ryan's mom)

Middle left to right- my Aunt Missy, her daughter Emma, my Grandma Carol

Bottom left to right- Mary, Danielle, my cousin Katy

We also got a 4 generations picture with my grandma and mom. Pretty cool!

We are so blessed to have so many people who love and spoil our kids!

A First, A Visit, and A Stoplight

Lexi's umbilical stump finally came off (after some help from her pediatrician), so we were able to give her a real bath! She's had the peeliest skin so it was nice to wash her and get some lotion on her. There is nothing better than the smell of a freshly washed baby!

As I mentioned last week, my MIL, SIL, and two nephews came to visit us on Wednesday. We had a great time, even though it was a tad crazy! Samuel is only 4 months old, but he looks GINORMOUS compared to my tiny girl.

We couldn't get Elijah to sit for a picture, but we got this picture of the other 3. Someday we'll get a picture of all 4 of them.

And I couldn't get over this sweetness! I could just eat them up!

We've been staying home a lot, partially because of Lexi having trouble nursing and partially because of the heat, so I've been trying to find things to do to entertain Jax. I have a toddler craft book I bought awhile ago and I go to that a lot for ideas. This was a cute way to make a stoplight. Jax loved being able to paint the circles.

Then glue them on to the paper towel roll.
(Ignore the fact that the red and green are switched. I'm super smart.) 

I do love his ridiculously fake smile though!

And because I couldn't leave you without this sweetness...

Happy weekend!

Life With Two

Things are running pretty smoothly around these parts. So far the transition has been relatively easy and I feel so blessed. Jax is such a great kid and is always helping me out. Lexi is an easy baby and mostly just sleeps or hangs out looking around at things.

The biggest issue we are having is with nursing. Lexi has a terrible latch and is also super lazy. So it takes a lot to get her to latch on, then I have to manually adjust her lips to a better position, then it takes everything I have to keep her focused on actively eating. I have to switch her back and forth multiple times while feeding her, which is no fun since she doesn't latch well in the first place. It's been a huge challenge and we've been seeing a lactation specialist, which seems to be helping so far.

We had her two week check up and she lost weight, which isn't good, so I'm just focusing on getting her to nurse better. It's pretty much all I do these days. I feel bad because I'm constantly telling Jax that I can't come with him to see something or that he needs to wait for something until I'm not nursing Lexi. I'm nervous that he's going to resent her for taking so much of my time! I try to be extra conscious of giving him as much loving as I can when I'm not occupied with Lexi.

My MIL, SIL and two nephews are coming up to visit us tomorrow and I'm so excited! I can't believe we have 4 kids between us! I know my MIL I going to be in grandbaby heaven! It should be a fun time.

And of course I couldn't leave you without some pictures from the last 2 weeks. So here ya go :)

One Week

Miss Lexi is one week old today! 

She is such a good baby. She only fusses while getting her diaper changed or when she's having trouble latching to eat (which happens a lot, unfortunately). She sleeps 11-6 at night, waking up just once to eat. She likes to be on her side. We thought she was going to roll herself over a few days ago. It didn't happen, but she was close! She is quite the squirmer/mover. I have a feeling she's going to hit her developmental milestones early. Unlike her brother!

Speaking of him, he sure loves his baby sister! He's so sweet with her. He sings to her or shakes a toy for her if she's fussing. He always asks to give her kisses and hold her. He told me the other day that he wants her to stay forever :)

Today is a big day because my mom is heading back home. It's been so great having her here to help and I'm SO sad she's leaving. I'm praying for a smooth transition over the next few days as I adjust to life as a mommy of two!

Her Birth Story

I am so excited to share Lexi's birth story with ya'll. I know so many of you have been praying for a successful VBAC for me and I am happy to say that it happened!

I had been having contractions on Monday and Tuesday that were slowly becoming stronger and stronger. I wasn't able to sleep through them and on Tuesday night around 2am I headed downstairs to watch TV and see if they started coming closer together. By 430am I knew it was the real thing and I called our moms to get in the car and drive the 2.5 hours up here. I figured they had plenty of time to get here, but I was WRONG. By 530am I realized that we needed to get to the hospital. We called a friend to come stay with Jax, I woke him up to say good bye and we hurried to the hospital. 

When we got there, they checked me and I was already at 9cm! I knew I had to be pretty far along because the contractions were BRUTAL. We had to stop in the middle of the parking lot twice as we were walking in just so I could get through them. After they checked me, I was rushed to a delivery room and they got everything set up for Lexi's arrival. When they checked me again, I was at 9.5cm... and that's when things stalled. I'm not sure what happened but my contractions just felt out of control and I couldn't control myself through them. At that point I decided I needed and epidural and the midwife agreed that would be the best option for me. My mom and Ryan fought me over it (which I'm thankful for), but I knew it was the right thing. 

The epidural took 2 tries to work but once it did, we all got to relax. They broke my water, checked me again and I was ready to push. Lexi was still sitting pretty high so we waited about 1.5 hours to help her move down on her own. Around 150pm she was ready, I pushed for 30 minutes... then reached down and pulled her out myself! It was AMAZING!!!

I am SO proud of myself for having a successful VBAC and not at all bummed that it didn't end up being completely natural. The nurses kept telling me that they were amazed I made it to 9cm before I got to the hospital. I'm pretty proud of myself for that! 

 I am so happy with how everything turned out and I couldn't have asked for a more fantastic birth story.

Introducing...

LEXI NICOLE!!!
Born July 4th, 2012 at 2:21pm
7lbs 7oz, 21 inches

Randoms

We headed down to Fresno this weekend for a quick visit and to attend two different parties that we had been invited to. The first was a wedding reception for Ryan's uncle who got married back in May. The second was for Jax's best friend Ben who turned 3 on Saturday. I ended up not taking any pictures the entire weekend. Whoops. So instead, here are some recent iPhone photos!

This is what Jax does most mornings while I get ready. I just love him so much!

He helped Daddy mow the ENTIRE lawn last week!

For Ben's birthday we got him this soccer ball and net. Jax had a complete meltdown that he couldn't keep it for himself. Lucky for him, his Auntie Val sent him some Target money for his birthday. So he was able to get one for himself. He was SO happy about it!

I sit on my birth ball a lot these days. Jax wanted in on the action. Ha! 

(Ignore how large I look!)

He shaves with Daddy every morning. He has his own Toy Story shaving kit. I love sitting in bed and watching my boys. It makes my heart so happy!

We're slowly making progress on our letters. I've been a slacker recently.

Wearing Daddy's glasses. How could you not just eat this little face up?!

This week is full of waiting around for labor to start. I'm really hoping we won't be waiting too much longer. If I haven't had her by Friday, I go to see my doctor again and hopefully I'll have made more progress. 

Happy Monday!

38 & 39 Weeks!

I missed my 38 week post last week. Mostly because I didn't have Ryan around to take my picture until Saturday morning (and I always forget to just pull out the tripod). As of last week, not much was happening. I saw the doctor last Tuesday and had absolutely no progress. WHAT?! At 35 weeks I was dilated to 1cm and was starting to efface. Then last week, nothing. I'm not sure if there was just a discrepancy between my doctor and the NP I saw last week (because my doctor was sick), or if I actually back tracked.

I went back to the doctor (I actually saw the midwife) this afternoon and I've made lots of progress! I'm 3cm dilated and 70% effaced! I knew all those painful Braxton Hicks had to be doing something! The midwife was really happy with how I'm progressing and doesn't think I'll go too far past my due date, if at all. I'm SO glad that things are actually progressing... I was pretty depressed after last week. Plus, 3 friends have all had their babies in the last 3 days, so that wasn't making me feel to happy either. I'm much more hopeful now that I know my body is doing what it's supposed to do!
Especially since it didn't with Jax.

Here is my picture from last week. I don't feel like I'm getting much bigger at this point. I've stayed the same for the past few weeks. I'm just getting more uncomfortable!

Ryan and I also did this maternity picture last week. I saw the idea on Pinterest and copied it. I LOVE how it turned out. Pregnancy is such a miracle from God!!

Here I am this week

And my sweet boy loving on his sister

No more comparisons with Jax because I stopped taking pictures with him at 38 weeks. I was so huge and miserable and I didn't want to remember any of it! I know I keep saying this, but I'm so thankful that I feel (and look) so much better this time.

I'm so anxious to have this girl. It's all I think about. I keep hoping that these Braxton Hicks will turn into the real thing, or that I will get up in the night to go potty and my water will break. I know it's just a matter of days, but I just can't wait to hold my sweet girl in my arms!!